This Robot Snake Might Help Disaster Relief Situations In The Future

The robot in question was created in a joint project between the Kyoto University and the University of Electro-Communications and was unveiled during the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems that took place just last week.

The robot was showcased to the general public via a YouTube video where we can see it in action climbing a ladder. Thanks to its construction, the robot is able to bend and twist in order to create connected shapes that allow it to wrap securely around each rung of the ladder so it can climb upwards.

Matsunolab / YouTube

According to an abstract from the team’s paper “the climbing motion is executed via shift control and the corresponding motion required to catch the next step on the ladder. In addition, we developed a snake robot that has a smooth exterior body surface through construction of pectinate-shaped parts of the links.”

The robot was built with disaster recovery situations in mind. With its help, rescuers would be able to access damaged buildings and other structures more easily and navigate obstacles or terrains humans or human-like robots would find it difficult to.